July/August 2003

Itís that time againótime for warm weather, barbecues, visits to the beach and amusement parks galore. Most importantly, itís time for many of us to take vacations. Personally, Iím looking forward to an exciting vacation this year.

On a whim, a friend and I found a cheap trip to Freeport, Grand Bahamas, so Iím counting down the next two weeks until we land on what I hear is a beautiful, tropical island right in the midst of the Caribbean. Here in Virginia, weíve seen more rainy days than sunny this spring, so I have a feeling the 90-degree, sunny days are going to be a very welcome change.

As I look forward to the trip, Iíve been asking everyone I encounter about his own vacation plans, and itís gotten me curious about what people do with their summers. So, I have a favor to ask. Please write me (or e-mail me at
pbeverage@glass.com) and tell me about your own summer vacation plansóor even a favorite story from a summer past. Do you have a favorite summer memory from when you were a child? Iíd love to hear any of these storiesóand, for any of those of you who have traveled to the Bahamas, give me a call! Iím sure Iím going to want to compare notes with you upon my return.

To give you a little more incentive to send in your stories, for several months now, weíve been working on revamping the ďRear EndĒ section of AGRR, and now the time is finally here. Weíd like to feature your favorite stories each month there, and the beauty of it is that the stories donít even have to be related to auto glassóin future months weíll be asking about your first jobs, your funniest memories, your favorite cities to visit or your craziest hobbies.

In this issue, we donít yet have this fun section, but we do have lots of important information to share with you.
In "Insurance Talk," contributing editor Les Shaver takes a long look at body shops that are starting to break into the glass business and what auto glass installers think about this invasion.

If you are involved in repair, please be sure to read our review of the National Windshield Repair Association
Conference, which was held February 21-22 in Las Vegas. Personally, this is one of my favorite events to attend, and I hope to see many of you there next year.

In addition, we have a profile of Glass Surgeon, a repair-only shop in Norfolk,
Va..

Finally, for everyone, Dale Malcolm of Dow Automotive/Essex ARG was kind enough to supply us with a review of the
Detroit Auto Show, which was held in mid-January. In addition to informing the readers of all the newest glass developments in the car-manufacturing world, it gives us all a fun chance to see some of the latest cars out there.

Well, itís almost time for me to head to lunch, during which I plan to buy sun block and Sun-In to at least keep myself dreaming about my trip. Hopefully many of you are already traveling the globe or at least heading to the beach, and I canít wait to hear how much fun you have (or have had in years past). You can contact me at
pbeverage@glass.com, or give me a call at 540/720-5584, ext. 114. I look forward to hearing from you.